I do like that Thundercracker is trying to rescue Skywarp. I do wonder how he's going to "free" him, though. Just take his head? Upload his mind into his body so they're sharing a body? I wonder how creative they're going to get here.
I actually do like the brief glimpse of stars we see in the middle of Beachcomber's battle flashback. The art does do a good job of making it look pretty, amidst the carnage.
It seems like Ultra Magnus has tried to re-create the base where he had been imprisoned on Cybertron for decades (WAY back in Transformers #7). Possibly because that's all he's known for so long? If that's what they're going for...geez, that's sad. Poor Ultra Magnus. Okay, THIS is a Ultra Magnus who REALLY can't deal with this now.
Back on Cybertron, this sure FEELS like the Wreckers forming. I'm not sure if that's even what DWJ is trying to do or not. But, it does have that feel to it. I like it!
Wheeljack's noticed that Optimus is acting weird. So, at least someone is paying attention. I'm sure this is going to come to a head soon enough.
I kept expecting something BAD to happen to Cliffjumper's jar full of spark-parts. But, hey...nothing bad happened this time! Maybe, anyway, we'll see how this plays out.
Bruticus vs Devastator continues to be a cool fight.
And then we get the big reveal for this issue. SHREDHEAD! Okay, I'll admit, I was NOT expecting a new character. I was expecting something horrible like Autobot X. Or maybe Superion or Defensor parts. Something to deal with all the Decpeticon Combiners we've had so far. But, a new character? Who's got a cool energy sword? Alright! It's a little surprising that he just seems to be a "normal" van, though. Name kind of makes me think he's a TMNT character, too. Still, I'm interested to see what this new guy is like. I'm sure with a name like Shredhead and being made up of a bunch of nearly-dead spark-pieces, he's a really levelheaded and reasonable fellow.
So...how long until Carly paints a new dragon or a wizard on the side of Shredhead's van form? I feel like that's where this is going.
Also, in the letter's page, they name-drop the TF Wiki! Neat! They ARE paying attention to that.
Also, Shockwave is probably only MOSTLY dead. That's expected. It's Shockwave, after all.
Not sure how I feel about Shredhead. No problems with writers getting to make their own characters but his/their design comes off a bit dorky IMO. Between the head and the letters page comments, feels like something DWJ drew up as a young kid. I do like that they used Carly's van as the basis though.
You know what? The head and overall bodyshape kind of remind me of Hoist. And I wonder if that's a little on purpose, in order for Hasbro to make it into a toy easier, down the road. Since it's easier to alter a existing mold than make a brand new one and all that.